New Dustin Hoffman Accuser Claims Harassment And Physical Violation On Broadway
Photo Credit: Kathryn Rossetter
Original Article | Author: Kathryn Rossetter
Rossetter writes that Hoffman would take photos with her and "grab my breast just before they snapped the picture and then remove it." She often didn't notice in time, which she says made it seem like she was "complicit with the gesture. I was not. Not ever."
Kathryn Rossetter performed eight times a week with the star in 'Death of a Salesman' — but, she writes, a dream job soon became "a horrific, demoralizing and abusive experience at the hands (literally) of one of my acting idols."
On Nov. 1, The Hollywood Reporter published a guest column by writer Anna Graham Hunter in which she alleged that actor Dustin Hoffman groped and sexually harassed her when she was a 17-year-old production assistant on the set of Death of a Salesman TV movie in 1985. In response, Hoffman, now 80, apologized and said the allegations were “not reflective of who I am." Then on Dec. 4, comic John Oliver confronted Hoffman about Hunter’s claims at a film panel, during which Hoffman said, "I still don't know who this woman is. I never met her; if I met her it was in concert with other people." Since THR published Hunter’s account, several other women have approached the publication with similar stories about Hoffman’s conduct at various times and places dating back to the 1970s. One of those women, Kathryn Rossetter, who co-starred with Hoffman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway and in the TV movie, has written the following account of her experience. (She has related this story to numerous people over the years.) As explained in the editor’s note below her story, Hoffman’s representatives declined to comment but have put forth other individuals who worked on Death of a Salesman and did not witness the conduct described in this column….
In 1983, I was an aspiring actress in New York City. I did not have the privilege of going to Yale or Juilliard. I studied privately and pounded the pavement trying to get work. I had little-to-no real experience (other than one show) when I submitted my picture and resume in the hopes of securing an audition for a Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, starring Dustin Hoffman. I had played Maggie in After the Fall, also written by Arthur Miller. Miller had come to see it and was highly complimentary of my work, so I took a chance that he might take notice of my submission.
A miracle! I was being called in to read for Willy Loman’s mistress, "the Woman In Boston." I was much too young but felt the opportunity alone was the reward so I prepared and went. To my surprise, Dustin was reading with everyone. I was the last actress to read. He was silly and fun, and we did the scene and I laughed and he went crazy. “I love that laugh. I want her, I want her!” I couldn’t believe my ears. The director felt I was far too young and wanted another actress. Final callbacks were four days later. Dustin told me to get a wig and age makeup and to look older when I came back. The night before my final audition, he called me and said he and his makeup artist were coming to my apartment to get me ready. I was astounded. It was a little bizarre. She stuffed towels into a body stocking so I would look fatter, did my wig and aged me. Frankly, I looked like Tootsie. Thus, I went to the callback the next day.
After my turn, I was released. A half-hour later I got a call saying I needed to hurry back to the theater. I did, wig in hand. All the other actresses were gone. I had to read again. They openly argued about me in front of me. They made me take off my dress so the producer and director could see me stuffed with towels in my body stocking. Then there was another hushed meeting of the men and they offered me the job — if I would gain 12 pounds. I was dumbstruck. I was going to be on Broadway in one of the most iconic revivals of the time. Dustin took me to his home for dinner to meet his wife and called my mother to tell her I was going to be on Broadway. The whole experience was overwhelming. He was my hero.
Three days later, during the first week of rehearsals, he took me to lunch. Walking back to rehearsal, he said he had to stop by his hotel room to pick up something he forgot. I asked, "Why a hotel room?" He only lived a little over a mile away. He said so he could take naps at lunch, if needed, and when they were working on scenes he wasn’t in he could go there and relax and study his lines.
When we stepped into the room, he jumped on the bed and said, "Give me a back rub." He pulled off his shirt. I didn’t know what to do. I said we had to be back at rehearsal in 15 minutes. He said, "Just a quickie." I was a nervous wreck, but sat on the bed and gave a very lame rub. The maid walked in and I almost fainted. He laughed. As we prepared to leave, he looked at me and said, “Now we have our 'hotel room.'” Ah, I thought — Method Acting! I was his mistress and our scenes were set in a hotel room and Biff walks in. He told me to return to rehearsal a few minutes after he did and left me there.
That was the beginning of what was to become a horrific, demoralizing and abusive experience at the hands (literally) of one of my acting idols.
